Airline News and Commentary

Delta to Launch JFK – Haiti Service in June

Delta has announced that it will launch nonstop service from New York (JFK) to Haiti in June, putting it head-to-head with American’s daily nonstop service. I don’t usually mention new routes (there are lots of them, and if you care you should check out this incredibly thorugh site), but I thought it noteworthy to point out Delta’s interesting strategy of focusing on so-called VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) destinations (ie, service to Guyana) and highly targeted business destinations (Malabo). Spirit has taken a similar approach, using low fares and middle of the night flighttimes to differentiate itself against American in South Florida. While Spirit is certainly going after the leisure traveler on some routes, their 3am arrival in Trinidad makes it far more likely that you’re not going there on vacation.

In any case, Delta has made a bunch of interesting strategic decisions lately (lowering fares in Cincy, their network, NWA integration, etc) that suggests to me they’re a far more nimble operation than they’ve ever been before and, strangely, have made once-pioneering carriers like United and American seem like slothsin comparison.